1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for loading a disk, such as a compact disk (CD), into a disk player, such as an optical disk player. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for loading a disk into a disk player having no tray, such as a CD player adapted for use in a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
A disk drive is an apparatus for recording information on a disk, such as a compact disk (CD), CD-Read Only Memory (CD-ROM), Digital Video Disk (DVD), DVD-ROM, or for playing the recorded information. Such a disk drive has a loading apparatus for mounting the disk at the position for recording or playing information to or from the disk. The disk is inserted from the front direction of the disk player by the loading apparatus, is loaded onto a turn table, and is clamped by a chucking unit so that it can rotate. While the disk rotates on the turn table, an optical pickup moves in the radial direction of the disk, thus recording information onto the disk or reading information from the disk.
A disk player for use in vehicle typically includes a disk loading apparatus capable of directly loading the disk without a tray due to restrictions in space. Also, a loading apparatus capable of selectively loading disks of different sizes is now in use so that 80 mm or 120 mm disks could be used arbitrarily.
FIG. 1 is a structural view illustrating the apparatus for loading the disk of the disk drive for use in vehicle disclosed in Korean patent application No. 10-2002-32282 of the present applicant, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. The apparatus for loading the disk is capable of selectively loading 120 mm or 80 mm disks. Operation for loading a 120 mm disk will now be described.
The 120 mm disk 1 is received into the inside of the disk player and contacts a locking pin 72 of a locking lever 70, and then the locking lever 70 is rotated and a locking pin 71 is moved out of a first locking groove 42b of a second pivoting plate 42. As this occurs, the disk 1 is moved forward further by a transferring roller 11, and then guiding rollers 41a and 42a are pushed by the disk 1, such that first and second pivoting plates 41 and 42 are rotated as shown in FIG. 2. In the meantime, a guiding pin 42c of the second pivoting plate 42 is moved along a main slit 62 of a sub-chassis 60. Also, the second pivoting plate 42 is rotated in a direction D, and a pushing lever 43 is rotated in a direction C. If the pushing lever 43 is rotated and a slider 30 is moved in a direction A2, then a rack gear 31 of the slider 30 is connected to a driving gear 25 so that the slider 30 is moved further in the direction A2 as shown in FIG. 3. As described in the foregoing, the slider 30 is moved in the direction A2 and a cam protuberance 33 of the slider 30 guides a cam slit 61 of the sub-chassis 60 as shown in FIG. 4, such that the sub-chassis 60 is moved in a direction B1. A locking protuberance 73 of the locking lever 70 comes into contact with the lower frame portion 63 of the sub-chassis 60 moving in the direction B1, such that the locking lever 70 is rotated and the locking pin 71 is moved out of a second locking groove 42d of the second pivoting plate 42. At this moment, the guiding pin 42c of the second pivoting plate 42 is guided along a slit 62a of the sub-chassis 60, such that the second pivoting plate 42 is rotated further in the direction D, and the first pivoting plate 41 cooperates with the second pivoting plate 42, rotating further in the direction D. Therefore, the first and the second guiding rollers 41a and 42a are separated from the disk 1, and the disk 1 is safely put on a turn table (not shown) by a chucking unit 6. Furthermore, the transferring roller 11 is controlled by the slider 30 moved in the direction A2, and is isolated from the disk 1.
When the apparatus has loaded the disk as discussed above, recording of information on the disk 1 or reading of recorded information from the disk 1 can be performed.
In order to remove the disk 1, the driving gear 25 shown in FIG. 3 is rotated in opposite direction. Therefore, the slider 30 is returned along the direction A1. When this occurs, the transferring roller 11 comes into contact with the disk 1 and is rotated first, to transfer the disk 1 along direction A2, and to subsequently transfer the sub-chassis 60 along a direction B2.
When this occurs, as shown in FIG. 5, the locking lever 70 is rotated by the disk 1 being withdrawn, such that the locking pin 71 is moved out of the second locking groove 42d. As described above, the guiding pin 42c does not withdrawn from slit 62a even though the second pivoting plate 42 is separated from the locking lever 70, so that the second pivoting plate 42 can not be returned to the initial position. Therefore, the space between the first and second guiding rollers 41a and 42a and the disk 1 becomes widened. Then, the moment that the sub-chassis 60 is returned further along the direction B2 andt the guiding pin 42c is moved out of the slit 42a as shown in FIG. 6, the second pivoting plate 42 and the first pivoting plate 41 are returned to their initial positions quickly by the restoring force of first and second springs 43 and 45, respectively.
During the process described above, the space between the disk 1 and the guiding rollers 41a and 42a has already been widened. Therefore, a collision between the guiding rollers 41a and 42a and the disk 1 can occur due to the restoring force of the pivoting plates 41 and 42. Accordingly, an unpleasant noise is generated, and damage to the disk 1 can also occur.